Sunday March 9, 2014 - Call to Virtue

Gospel mt 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is the pinnacle of human perfection and in today’s Gospel we see His perfect Wisdom and perfect Humility on display.  In this scene in which the father of lies, the devil, is attempting to tempt our Lord, Jesus dominates the devil even after being in the desert with no food for forty days!  We should learn by our Lord’s example!  We too are called to discern our decisions carefully, scrutinizing the consequences and asking ourselves will my words and deeds help to build up the kingdom of God or will they destroy the kingdom and cause division?  In truth, we are called to put aside foolishness and pride, and submit ourselves completely to the divine will of our heavenly Father, just like Jesus!  Moreover, we should not be like Adam who lost God’s grace and gift of original holiness because of his disobedience.  As the catechism states: “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.  All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.  In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully ‘divinized’ by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to ‘be like God’, but ‘without God, before God, and not in accordance with God’.  Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience.  Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness.” CCC 397-399 However, brothers and sisters the good news is that our Lord’s saving sacrifice has won for us Grace and Blessings that far surpass any sin! As St. Paul says in today’s second reading “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.”  So today, this first Sunday of Lent let us re-commit ourselves to the will of our heavenly Father, let us resist the temptations of foolishness and pride, and become holy just as our Lord is holy!  Let us strive to follow the perfect example of our Lord and when we stumble and fall let us call out to our God begging: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.  Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.”  Blessings. Fr. Steven